{"id":586465,"date":"2026-08-07T23:28:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/586465\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:28:11","slug":"core-funding-needed-to-secure-future-of-west-cork-counselling-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/586465\/","title":{"rendered":"Core funding needed to secure future of West Cork counselling service"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">While funding has been allocated to avoid the immediate threat of closure of a\u00a0[url=<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">https:\/\/www.echolive.ie\/corknews\/arid-41891299.html]West Cork[\/url] counselling service, annual core funding is needed to provide certainty for the future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The 2026 funding allocation for West Cork Counselling and Support Service CLG has come following concerns that the organisation could face closure at the end of September due to a financial shortfall. The service provides low cost accessible and professional counselling to individuals and families.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">In July, a spokesperson said that due to a lack of funding the service was under threat of closure for the first time in its 20-year history.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cAt a time when mental health services are so much in demand, we are seeking the support of the public to save a much needed and valued service,\u201d they said at the time, asking people to contact their local councillors and TDs to urge them to get involved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">Fill the gap<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Fianna F\u00e1il TD for Cork South West Christopher O\u2019Sullivan said last week that Minister of State Mary Butler had confirmed to him that the HSE in the South West region \u201cwill fill the gap in funding at least until the end of the year, at which point they\u2019ll reassess how service delivery can be sustained.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cIt\u2019s my ambition to keep the services in place for a long time to come,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Service chairperson, Teresa O\u2019Sullivan, welcomed the news, saying: \u201cWe are hugely relieved to have secured funding for the remainder of the year, this is an enormously positive outcome for our clients, staff, volunteers and the wider community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cThe response from clients, community organisations, public representatives and supporters has been truly remarkable. We would like to thank everyone who advocated on our behalf, shared our message and highlighted the importance of community-based counselling services.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">Accessible mental health services<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">She also thanked Ms Butler, Mr O\u2019Sullivan, and HSE South West for \u201crecognising the importance of investing in accessible mental health services and supporting the continuation of care for people across the West Cork area.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\n            \u201cOur focus now turns to securing commitment to core funding before the end of 2026.\n        <\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\n            \u201cLong-term, sustainable funding is essential if we are to continue planning, developing and delivering high-quality counselling services for the years ahead.\u201d\n        <\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">She said the service will work closely with government departments and stakeholders over the coming months to secure a permanent funding solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While funding has been allocated to avoid the immediate threat of closure of a\u00a0[url= https:\/\/www.echolive.ie\/corknews\/arid-41891299.html]West Cork[\/url] counselling service,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[15607,79,103,61,60,410,411,620],"class_list":["post-586465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-cork-health","tag-cork-news","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-west-cork"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}